Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 was a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation propliner chartered by the United States military that disappeared on March 16, 1962, over the Western Pacific Ocean. The aircraft was transporting 93 U.S. soldiers and three South Vietnamese from Travis Air Force Base, California to Saigon, Vietnam. After refueling at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, the Super Constellation was en route to Clark Air Base in the Philippines when it disappeared. All 107 aboard were declared missing and presumed dead.
The airliner's disappearance prompted one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific. Aircraft and surface ships from four branches of the U.S. military searched more than 144,000 square miles (370,000 km2) during the course of eight days. A civilian tanker observed what appeared to be an in-flight explosion believed to be the missing Super Constellation, though no trace of wreckage or debris was ever recovered. The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that, based on the tanker's observations, Flight 739 probably exploded in-flight, though an exact cause could not be determined without examining the remnants of the aircraft. This was the worst aviation accident involving the Lockheed Constellation.
Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel (the latter with leased aircraft). The airline was bought by Federal Express in 1988.
1962Mar, 16
A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.
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Events on 1962
- 5Feb
Charles de Gaulle
French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence. - 5Aug
Nelson Mandela
Apartheid in South Africa: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990. - 15Sep
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis. - 18Sep
Jamaica
Burundi, Jamaica, Rwanda and Trinidad and Tobago are admitted to the United Nations. - 6Nov
Apartheid
The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning South Africa's apartheid policies and calls for all UN member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation.